Day: April 8, 2010

There are too many people who are so fragmented about their lives, not just "red state" "blue state" stuff, but with our contemporary society making it so easy for you to fragment, compartmentalize and otherwise isolate everything you digest in your daily life. That's sadly just as true for comedy, comedy fans and even some comedy websites. They seem to think that there's only one kind of funny worth paying attention to. But funny is funny. Which is why it made me happy to see Jim Norton not only post this photo of himself with Carol Burnett, but also accompany it with this caption: "Met Carol Burnett, one of the funniest people ever. I did a Tarzan call when she kicked me in the nuts." You can be a fan of Jim Norton and a fan of Carol Burnett. Because funny is funny. Related: Dave Itzkoff recently caught up with Carol Burnett and wrote about her for the NYT. Read it! And her...

Just when you thought you knew the truth about professional wrestling, James Adomian and his L.A. group The Midnight Show have another theory. A conspiracy theory. Starring Adomian as Jesse Ventura, Paul F. Tompkins as Iron Sheik, Josh Fadem as Ultimate Warrior & Nic Wegener as Vince McMahon. Directed by Payman Benz. Roll the...

What do they say about New York City: There are eight million stories, and sometimes it seems as though eight million of the people telling them think they're comedians? No, that's not it. It is a fact, though, that America's biggest city is also its biggest comedy mecca. Hollywood may be Hollywood, but New York City is where comedians are born funny, become funny or arrive to thrust their funny upon us. I think we should meet some of these people. This is a new recurring feature, a mini-profile of newcomers, up-and-comers and overcomers of New York's vibrant comedy scene. It's called Meet Me In New York. Baron Vaughn (pictured by Anya Garrett) is what we call in the business, one of those quintuple threats. He can write and tell jokes, yes, but he also can act, dance, sing, rap, and has an intangible other quality that probably will revealed to you when you least expect it. You've seen him on Live at Gotham, Black Dynamite, as a talking funny head on VH1. He did HBO's Aspen festival in 2006. You'll see him Friday when The Awkward Comedy Show debuts on Comedy Central, Monday on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, later this month at Bridgetown in Portland, this summer at Bonnaroo, on the big screen in The Other Guys with Will Ferrell, the small screen with Russell Simmons Presents, and this...